The Last Battle
by PlayerWithWords
Summary: Alice has a vision. It's time. The battle with the Volturi is coming. Unforeseen circumstances forces the Cullens to recruit the ninjas, to help fight alongside them. The ninjas and vampires have 1 year to prepare. To prepare for the last battle. (DISCLAIMER! This story might be hard to stomach if you're a stickler for canon pairings. I'll be playing around with this)
1. Chapter 1

It all started, when we were born...

NAH! It started with Naruto's great sense of smell, Sakura's overwhelming curiosity, and my ability to be passive at all the wrong times.

We happened to sit behind them during a lecture.

Naruto and I were talking about our mission in excited, hushed voices (in Japanese, of course) while Sakura – who sat on my right – stared blankly at the row in front of us. Which is odd, even though I've only known her for a short time. She practically drowned me in chatter the first day I met her.

Suddenly, Sakura broke her daze by whispering, "Hey, don't you guys think they're all so beautiful?" Eyes on the group sitting just a row ahead of us. The teacher on the podium continued droning on in a monotonous voice. And of course we weren't paying attention. Even though we picked up the language and the accent pretty fast, we didn't know what the heck was photosynthesis, haemoglobin, or whatever. We didn't need to.

"Yeah, they are." Naruto and I chimed together, momentarily pausing our conversation.

Sakura pursed her lips. "Don't you think they're a bit _too _beautiful? Almost like ethereal, out-of-this-world beauty?" We were speaking in Japanese because it was easier. What else?

Naruto raised a brow, looking thoughtful for the first time since I met him (Wow, how many sides do these two have?!) His mouth formed a small 'o' as if he just realised something, and he leaned forward slightly – very, very slightly – towards the Cullens. He closed his eyes.

And took a deep breath.

His eyes snapped open, and he fell back onto his chair. He gave a wry, unsure smile. Turning to face us, he whispers, "Well, they sure don't smell bad. In fact, they smell … uh... _really _nice. Like flowers and cinammon and herbs and sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and the powerpuff girls. Though I did catch a scent of... the woods. Like bark, dirt and blood. Rough. But still somehow pleasant though. It's not a bad thing, I guess..." He trailed off, then scratched his head.

Wow. So serious.

So they're a bunch of mysterious, attention-catching, nice-smelling, great-looking, good-grades-getting people. Th-they must be -

"They must be perfect," we breathed.

* * *

"It's so weird, so odd, so weird, so odd," Sakura chanted to herself, pacing ahead of us.

I sighed. "Sakura-chan, chill. It's okay. It's not as if you can magically know what they do behind-the-scenes."

Sakura paused at my words. She came to a standstill and swiveled to face the surprised Naruto and I.

"That. Is. GENIUS. We'll stalk them home. Oh, maybe not stalk. That sounds like something a criminal might do. How about investigating? Yeah! That's perfect! I mean, how will they even find out?" She winked conspiratorially.

"Sakura, that's not part of the mission," I persuaded half-heartedly. Now that I think about it, I'm not usually that passive. I must have been tired from gaming (Ahem, Otome Games, ahem) through the night. At least I had some nasteh coffee this morning. Bitter and ever-so-nasteh, at least it kept me from being zombified. Playing games throughout the night is probably not the wisest thing I've ever done.

Sakura turns to Naruto. "What do you think?"

He grins. "Count me in! I really want to know how they smell so good!" Naruto has the Nine-Tails sealed inside of him, which gives him a keener sense of smell than most. Though, I heard, not as keen as Kiba's. I also heard a villager from the Sand Village has a Shukaku sealed inside of him. But then again, I hear a lot of things. A fondly disturbing one is KakashiXNaruto. Just no.

"Kaiya?" She faces me.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure. After school?" I gave a small yawn.

"Yup! So since our last classes are different, we'll meet up here, okay? In the canteen. Right here." She points at her feet.


	2. Chapter 2

Since we only knew the Cullens' surnames, because everyone likes to talk about them is if they were one. That is just outright weird.

So, we spent the rest of the day working real hard to ask for all of their names.

Okay, so maybe it's not _that _hard.

It's like some really odd mantra everyone says.

"First there's Edward Cullen, he's with Bella Cullen. Then there's Emmett Cullen, he's with Rosalie Hale. Not to mention Jasper Hale, he's with Alice Cullen. Lastly, there's Jacob Black, he's with Renesmee Cullen. They're adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Sigh. I wish they'd adopt me too."

Always.

It got creepy after the second time.

Right now though, we're watching the Cullens (and Hales and the lonely Black) gather themselves to leave school. They slid into two sleek but inconspicuous cars. Sleek and quiet. And posh too.

The three of us waited for a minute or so, then casually left the school compounds. As we strolled into closer to the woods by the side of the road, we checked our surroundings. Fortunately, there were no people around. Students liked to stay behind and chat after school, plus this road, or rather, this whole city, wasn't very populated.

We took a few steps back, then jumped, grabbing for a sturdy branch. We swung ourselves onto the branch and swiftly went further into the woods, disguising ourselves from any passers-by, but not limiting our vision. We started leaping from branch to branch, sprinting as fast as possible to catch up with the Cullens.

Our minds were blank. All this sprinting and hunting were second nature to us, despite Sakura and Naruto being Genins. We didn't need to think. We just had to do. When we finally caught up, we focused solely on the two cars that smoothly drove side by side.

As we got even closer to the two cars, but not surpassing them, I could see Edward Cullen tense, almost subconsciously. Then Alice Cullen whispered something into his ear. He relaxed. Subconsciously.

They just drove, weaving through rough roads, passing forgotten waterfalls and hidden streams. We silently followed their tracks. We were pro stalkers. With ninja skillz. Oh yeah.

When the cars finally stopped, they were parked next to this house.

Wait no, it's a darned _castle_.

GYAH! They're just a bunch of secretive rich kids who went through a bunch of cosmetic surgeries and own expensive perfumes and colognes. Snort. RICH ! Mission solved. I had a small smirk plastered on my face, feeling a small, guilty pride while watching the confused looks of Naruto and Sakura.

Suddenly, they moved.

Everything was a blur until we heard the soft click of a door. Then they disappeared.

We froze, struggling to process what just happened. A million thoughts were running through all of our minds. We had joked about how useful it would be for all ninjas to be telepathic before, and now we were sure our head was shrieking one word:

_**Run.**_

We fell backwards from the gigantic tree we had been hiding in and did a balancing back-flip before we landed on the ground with a catlike stance.

We barely started running before we heard a loud crunch.

Of the door snapping in half.

Our legs ran faster but we instinctively turned to look.

There, the Cullens stood. Jasper, Emmett, Edward and Jacob holding the fiercest looks. Jasper and Emmett looked almost predatorial.

"Run, run, RUN!" I screamed.

Naruto immediately produced ten copies of himself. A couple went through the Henge No Jutsu to become clones of Sakura and I. In the smoke and confusion, most of the clones and us leaped up the trees, a few staying back to fight and distract. Our clones ran the fastest ahead, while the three of us stayed dispersed in the middle.

I heard one of the Cullens cuss loudly.

I looked back.

They're fast, and angry. Running so swiftly they were a blur, the only times they stopped were to fight off the clones, getting angrier each time they realised they had been tricked. It was mostly just Emmett and Jasper doing the fighting. The rest tagged along, lagging at the back, seeming to just be curious about what was to happen next.

Naruto's copies produced copies, and the process repeated itself as we ran. His clones at the back tried to fight off the Cullens. He winced with every step he took. He must feel his clones lose a battle one by one.

All of a sudden, they stopped.

Taking the opportunity, I hid myself further inside the trees, then I watched their faces. Once they were immersed in some long speech Alice was making, I brandished my senbon and shot them at the Cullens.

Booyah, got the frontline down.

Emmett and Jasper, eyes wide, were paralyzed as they stared at the rest of their family members. Luckily, they were standing with their backs to me, giving me time to regroup with the others and avoid making me stand out.

Oh, I am so glad I know how to use the senbon. So glad.

I hear low growls echoing in the distance, but they were silenced by a high chime.

Then they were pursuing us again.

I yelped and ran, leaping from tree to tree. I can't tell the clones and Naruto and Sakura apart. So I'm going to just focus on fleeing. Our clones then disappeared as Naruto seemed to realize all of the Cullens were giving chase this time. He gulped, focusing on flight, leading now, instead of lagging behind.

"Wait!" I heard one holler.

"Stop!"

"Please!"

Being closest to them, I barked, "Why should we?!"

"Because!" I rolled my eyes. We may be plain-looking, but we're not dumb airheads.

"Because we know where Orochimaru's band is!"

Orochimaru? How do they know who he is?

"We want you guys to help fight them!"

We visibly slowed.

"Alongside us!"

"Please!"

Being stupid, passive and tired, I jumped down.

Naruto jumped down after me. With some frog. Wow. Is he into animals or something?

Sakura hesitated. Then she looked at us. We waved. She bit her lip then gracefully dropped down.

As they sauntered to us with relieved smiles, we cautiously waited for them to approach us. Bodies angled away, in case we needed to run.

Naruto huffed. He half-squatted to the frog's level and furiously pointed at the Cullens. "Edward Cullen. Bella Cullen. Renesmee Cullen. Jacob Black. Rosalie Hale. Alice Cullen. Gamatatsu, you had better remember! And that is where they live," their castle was still visible even from such a distance. "If we die, or if you don't see me ever again, you run, tell Tsunade Baa-chan and get Gama Boss to squash them! Understand?"

Gamatatsu silently nodded. Which was, from the many stories I've heard, freakishly unusual.

The Cullens chuckled, as if they understood Japanese. Huh. Wonder if they do.

Edward held out his hand in an amiable fashion.

Naruto pumped it once, then slapped it aside.

"To the point." He gritted his teeth.

Edward nodded. "I understand." Then he looked to Alice, who seemed just about all too glad to step forward.

"Hi! I'm Alice. I'm sorry this is so abrupt but... I think you've seen how fast we are, and we are also immensely strong." Edward gently plucked a tree from its roots to silently emphasise her point. Wow. We just climb those things.

She continued, "And a bunch of us hold numerous other abilities. Well... I can see the future..." She paused, awaiting – afraid of – our reaction.

"Go on," Sakura urged.

"Edward can mind-read. Jasper can sense and manipulate emotions. Bella over there can project a mental shield. Renesmee can pretty much bypass any shield and send thoughts from her mind to others upon contact. Jacob is a shape-shifter, though he can only turn into a wolf, though." Alice rushes out in one breath.

"So you guys have a bunch of special abilities!" Sakura concluded.

I narrowed my eyes. "Go. On."

Alice bit her lip.

"Please, understand that we are different from the rest of our kind. We solely hunt for animals. We...

We are vampires."

We hissed and fell back several steps.

"Please! We won't hurt you! We merely want you on our side!"

"Then why don't you explain yourself!" Naruto yelled.

"Like I said, I can see the future. And we have this group of people who are like royalty in the world of the vampires. The Volturi. But they want us dead. Very much so. Because we are the largest and strongest coven next to theirs. They even covet some of our abilities. I foresaw a few endings. The first is us, with our friends who are willing to fight, but the Volturi ends up killing us all. Though they might end up sparing the ones with special abilities. The second is you and the rest of your friends, together with ours. They lose, but we are also severely decimated in numbers. There are also a few other routes but they are quite unlikely to happen. The Volturi has become stronger because they have gathered more vampires. What makes matters worse is that they now have Orochimaru on their side. With his band of rogues. Only with you can we have a real happily ever after. It won't be perfect, but the ones who remain will live to tell the tale... Please," she begs, eyes dry but warm.

I stare at her.

They say that the eyes are a window to a person's soul, that if you stare long enough, look hard enough, you can tell who someone really is. Whether a person is holding some huge secret, or whether they're straight out liars, you can tell everything through their eyes.

"I'm in." I say, producing another small yawn.

"I'll help you," Sakura says softly, almost shyly.

"Alright-ttebayo!" Naruto grins, punching the air. His Japanese accent is back! And so is his catchphrase. Which the Cullens will never understand.

Edward smiles. Walking to us, he points us in the direction of their castle-home. "Let's go back. I can tell you about our story so far." He throws in another blinding smile. It seems very hard to be charmed by it when we were just watching his predator face just minutes ago. Let me tell you this, we'll be really scared of him for another couple of years.

"Sorry to interrupt," Rosalie's voice pops out of nowhere. She looks to the three of us. "Would the one who paralyzed Emmett and Jasper undo it?"

"Ah!" I laugh. "Sorry about that! Nearly forgot!"

* * *

A/N: Oh my! I think my first chapters will always be real short! Hope you enjoyed that! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura's sitting on the front porch of the Cullens, tying her shoelaces.

"Why are the two of you just standing there?" she laughs, looking to Naruto and I clutching our jackets and staring down at her.

"Maybe you should bring another jacket?" I asked.

"It's the middle of spring, Kaiya. Not winter. She won't die from the cold. She might die from the heat though, if you give her another jacket." Naruto grins.

Sakura had volunteered to be the one to return to Konoha to get reinforcements. And to convince Tsunade-sama to let us continue. That's the hard part. Seriously. I'm not even gonna lie. She scares me. There was this nagging worry in my head because it's a tough journey back to Konoha. Naruto assured me she would make it. I didn't know her as well, being what but a temporary replacement for the empty slot in Team 7. Weirdly enough, Tsunade-sama didn't tell me who I replaced though.

So yeah. Still worried.

Sakura lets out a breath of air as she jumps to her feet. "Alright! Better get this over with! I'M GOING TO FIND TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN, BABY!" Letting out a high-pitched war cry, she proceeds to sprint out of the forest, before I could even speak.

"Uh. Bye, Sakura-chan?" I said dumbly.

Wow. I didn't know she had it in her. Was this the work of the fabled Inner Sakura? Her split personality?

I hear the distant sound of a feral roar.

… Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

"Well, Sakura sure is energetic!" a ringing voice says.

We turn around to see the head of Alice Cullen peeking through the door.

She chuckles. "I didn't know she had it in her. Anyway, the two of you should come inside. We're expecting some guests pretty soon. Plus, it's cold for you guys, isn't it? Esme's making some food for you." Smiling, she ducks her head inside the house, probably expecting us to follow her in.

_For you guys_

Vampires don't feel cold?

When we went in, we were greeted by an entirely different sight than the one we had seen before we sent Sakura on her way. Before, the living room – scratch that, the whole ground floor – was deserted except for the sloppy Black shooting us a grumpy 'yo' before proceeding to stuff his head in the fridge and make disgusting slurping sounds.

Now, though, we had the whole Cullen family staring at us. Except for Jacob. I don't know where he is. Oh, and Carlisle. Yes, and Esme, since she was being nice and making food for us. The rest of the Cullens , though, must have known we were coming in with their super vampire senses and decided it would be fun to stare at us intensely and make us want to dig a hole and cry at the awkwardness. Or something like that.

"So... Is Miss Haruno going to be alright?" Esme calls, her voice travelling from the kitchen.

"No worries! She'll be fine!" Naruto casually waved away her question.

She walks out. "Alright then! I made breakfast for you two! My cooking skills aren't great, because these kids don't need to eat, but I do enjoy cooking and I hope it's enough." She shoots us a blinding smile and disappears into the kitchen again.

Well.

They sure know how to make us feel ugly.

"Hey! Naruto, Kaiya, come over here!" Alice is suddenly at the dining table, beckoning us to her.

Taking a seat, I ask, "What's up?"

She grins. "You see~" she starts off coyly. "You know that mission you guys had? You know, the one which you were sent here to conduct some investigation on some murders?"

Silence.

"How do _you _know that?" Naruto and I chorus, mouth agape. Top secret means top secret!

She giggles. "Actually, it was a lie. We had to get you three here somehow."

"A fake?" Naruto gasps.

"So there weren't any murders?" I groan.

"What the hell?!"

"Wait, you paid for the mission?"

"AND I WANTED TO SOLVE THE MURDER TOO!"

"LIIIIIEEESSSSS!"

Alice laughs. So does the rest of the Cullen teenagers. Or the ones who look like teenagers. Do they not understand how much a mission means to us? Do they not understand what we had to go through to get here? We wanted to solve our first murder! Dreams... Gone. Oh sigh.

"I'm sorry!" Alice gives us a bashful smile. "We had to get you here somehow!" She repeats, laughing again.

To think Sakura has gone off without knowing she had been lied to. Oh poor thing.

"Alright, alright. We won't go on. You guys can beat us up in a millisecond, anyway." I huffed.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper and Emmett grimace. Huh. Are they really still harping on the senbon thing? Really? Well, I can always teach them the senbon if they want. As long as they don't kill me in my sleep. Or I might kill _them_ in their sleep. Ohohohoho~

WAIT A MINUTE!

"Edward!" I whipped around to face the scary handsome pale dude staring at the television.

He turns. "Yes?"

"Can you read our minds?"

"Of course."

Then why doesn't he ever react when I think about killing his family members?

There was a short pause, then Naruto pipes in. "Do you understand what we're thinking?"

He paused, seeming to pretend to think. "I've never tried learning Japanese. I've always been more interested in learning forgotten languages. Hebrew, for example. Unfortunately, you three enjoy thinking in Japanese, which means I don't understand your thoughts. Although your thoughts project out an emotion - a 'tone' - which is why I can, however, somewhat get what you're going through. I can probably master Japanese in a month or so, but given the tight schedule we have right now, I don't think I can devote much time to Japanese. So essentially, I cannot understand your thoughts, which is the same as not being able to hear them at all."

Well that actually made sense.

"By the way, do any of you get uh... tempted by our blood?" Naruto chimes casually.

Everybody focuses on Jasper. "Jasper's the family's newest addition." Alice whispers.

"I am," Jasper replies. "But I have been for nearly a century, so I have it under control quite well. Not to mention your blood is not particularly tempting. Maybe being so athletic has something to do with it. Perhaps your muscles thicken and the scent of your blood gets diluted. Or maybe the people in your country are born that way, blood more diluted. Or maybe I have just grown desensitized to the scent of blood now." Jasper gives a small shrug.

Alright-y, brothers of long speeches and unneeded formality.

"So... This Volturi, can you tell us more about them? We need to know what we're getting ourselves into." I turned back to Alice. She grimaces, at which point Carlisle walks down the stairs, as if on cue.

"Carlisle and Edward can tell you more about them. It's good to know thy enemy." She forces a smile, then stands up to offer her seat to Carlisle while Edward grabs another seat.

Edward immediately gets down to business. "I'll give you a brief breakdown of each member of the Volturi. Let's start with Jane. She has a twin, and she's - " Edward gets interrupted by a tutting Esme.

"You can talk while or after you eat. Preferably after. They need the food!" she sings, spinning to place a two steaming plates of eggs, bacon and a grilled cheese sandwich on the table.

"Let's talk while we eat!" Naruto throws out, grabbing a plate while I do the same.

Edward smiles. "Maybe after."

"Okay!" The two of us cheer.

As they sat there, patiently watching the television while we wolfed down the food, Sakura was a faraway concern in my mind.

Not that I'm a bad friend or anything.

But c'mon, sometimes, food just overtakes everything.

* * *

**A/N: OMIGAWSH I UPDATED! Well! I am so sorry for being such an irresponsible jerk. I'm coping with some feelings of frustration. That, and I'm still schooling. Yup. Remember those days? When you had to wake up for school? I still have those days. They hurt.**


	4. Chapter 4

"So it's like acupuncture?"

"Exactly! Well, not _exactly_ but it has the same logic." I shrug.

I'm having a discussion on senbon with Jasper around one of the many tables on the ground floor. Emmett was listening to me talk about it at first too, but then he got bored of listening to my lecture and decided to watch some good ol' soccer instead.

Naruto, on the other hand, is talking animatedly about the dynamics of a ninja village to Edward.

"So this Tsunade is the current Hokage that Sakura went to seek permission from? Then do all ninja villages have a Hokage?" Edward raises a brow.

"Yup! And only our village have a Hokage. All ninja villages have a kage, which is..." Naruto carries on chiming happily.

Carlisle and Esme were away, seeking allies. Apparently, these allies had already been warned, so they were expecting as much, hence only Carlisle and Esme went to look for them. Although Alice and Rosalie were still on their cellphones talking to these allies, explaining the situation and telling them to be prepared. I could hear these two say one sentence over and over again.

"Please, you don't have to if you don't wish to, we would understand."

It was nice to see how they were breaking all these vampire stereotypes of being cold, emotionless creatures who cared not for their friends.

Bella and Renesmee were talking to the wolf pack outside, which the both of us still hadn't had any interaction with, save Jacob, since the wolf pack was always outside, patrolling the area. Only a couple ever really came in, and they usually stayed quite a distance away from us. I don't really understand why.

It's been a week. Sakura's still not back. Maybe we should've sent Naruto instead, since he would've resorted to anything to get Tsunade-sama to send reinforcements immediately. I do quite mean anything. At least, that was what I gathered when I read his personal report. Tsunade-sama had supplied me with reports of Sakura and Naruto when she informed me that I had to be a replacement.

Suddenly, Alice and Edward dashed towards the door, their lithe bodies only a blur. Some of the wolves charged inside, slamming the door open just as Alice and Edward simultaneously reached for the knob.

One of the wolves growls something to Edward, who responds with a rapid nod and an eased whisper. The wolf bobs his head and barks something to the rest of the wolves. One of them, with a sandy brown coat, seems to give us some sort of a wolf-smile, before trotting outside.

Jasper is of course, abandoning our discussion and rushing to Alice's side, hurriedly asking her questions.

"Kaiya! Naruto! We're back!" A familiar voice shouts from outside.

Our eyes light up and we sprint out.

There they were, a large number of familiar faces, just standing there and smiling with confident ease. "Yo!" Kiba shot us a wink.

"Yo!" Naruto grinned back.

Sakura jogged forward to give us a pat on the shoulder. "Sorry for the delay. I tried to get as many people as possible. Even got the Sand Siblings from Suna!"

We laugh, us continually asking questions about how Sakura managed to convince Tsunade-sama. It was truly a feat. Apparently, Tsunade-sama already liked Sakura. A comment Naruto waved away while I gasped in awe. Hmm... Has the crush Naruto had on Sakura when they were kids died down?

"Could you usher them into our living room? It would be a little rude if we did it." Edward slides over to whisper to the three of us, shooting a blinding smile along with his words.

He has got to stop doing that.

Naruto bounces on his heels, yelling a "HEY LET'S GO INSIDE GUYS!" over his shoulder before skipping into the Cullen Castle. The rest of us follow suit, laughing and catching up with one another. Lee was the happiest though, practically dancing into the mansion while chattering about something to Sakura. I'm pretty sure the rumored kiss attack the first time Lee spoke to Sakura is true then. I was picturing Lee slobbering all over Sakura though, but he seems way too gentlemanly for that. Heck, everyone does. What kind of idiot slobbers over people?

"K-Kaiya-san?" A voice calls uncertainly from behind me.

I spin around, smiling at her.

"Temari-san. It's nice to meet you!"'

She blinks. "How did you know my name?"

"From the many stories I've heard. Something about Shikamaru-san?" I laugh.

She blushes, then jogs forward to my side. "We're just friends! I swear!"

"I didn't say what _kind_ of rumors, Temari-san."

Her blush deepens. "Enough about him. How have you been?" She asks, like an old friend. I raise a brow, but reply as per normal.

"Surviving. How about you?" I barely know this girl.

"Fine."

I whistle. "So, how'd you know _my_ name?" I've never actually met her.

"You came to Suna some years back. Stayed at my family's place. I guess you don't remember me though."

I snap my fingers. "OH! OH! Riri-chan? You've grown up!" I laugh half-heartedly, feeling my shoulders get heavier. Right. Why was I so depressed? I should be over this!

Somebody snorts with laughter from behind us. "Riri-chan!" he repeats, slapping his thigh.

"Rourou-kun!" I point a finger at him dramatically. Temari holds back a laugh, letting a mere hiss pass her lips.

Kankurou's face reddened, averting the eyes of those who had heard and briskly walked through the door. A red-headed boy who had been walking beside Kankurou now walked alone, barely caring about Kankurou's embarrassment. He looked to me, nodded his acknowledgement, then looked away again.

I blushed. For some reason, his super cool attitude made me feel really inferior.

I turned back and muttered to Temari, "Is that Gaara? I've never seen him before."

She whispered back, "Yeah." She smiles. "He's reformed now, after battling with Naruto."

I grew silent.

"Kaiya?"

I jump. "O-oh! I knew about th-that!"

"You should! Everybody was talking about it after he changed. He was a mass murderer and a mindless weapon. He wasn't even really a person. Now though, he's still powerful, but he's using it for good. I can't really explain it, but Kankurou and I are both really proud to call him our brother." Her eyes soften. I could see Gaara lower his head modestly from my peripheral vision.

I smile. "That's great. That's really great. The Shukaku is hard to control. Especially so when Gaara was designed to be a weapon of mass destruction. To conquer it is definitely not easy."

She chuckles. "There you go again. Always speaking like you know everything when you're really just a year older than me."

"I can't do that anymore. The someone who used to tell me everything isn't here anymore."

"Oh?"

"Well... He's... Dead." Lie. Lie. Lie.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

We were already in the living room, talking in pairs or little groups. Temari had disappeared the moment we stepped inside. Huh.

I could see the Cullens and even some unfamiliar dressed-for-the-beach folks who I assume are the wolves mix among the ninjas, slowly getting to know them. So this was why they wanted the nins to come into the living room. So everybody could have some bonding time. Well, that's nice.

"Yo! Kaiya! C'mere!" Naruto hollers, beckoning me to him.

Standing with him were a couple of familiar faces I frequently saw around Konoha.

Naruto gestured to a masked, silver-haired figure. "This is Kakashi-sensei. You should know who he is."

I do. I've just never met him.

I smile and nod. He nods back. "Kaiya. I hope you're doing well." He looks mature, so he knows then.

"I am. Thank you for your concern." My smile falters.

Oblivious Naruto points to a couple others.

"Kiba and his dog, Akamaru!"

"Yo! I hope you like dogs!"

"Hinata-chan!"

"I-It's nice to meet you..."

"Chouji!"

"Want some chips?"

"Shikamaru!"

"..."

"Ino!"

"Hey! We'll become great friends!"

"Shino!"

"..."

"Neji!"

"Pleasure."

"Tenten!"

"Looking forward to knowing you, Kaiya-san!"

"Lee..."

"HELLO KAIYA-SAN! IT IS SO NICE TO MEET YOU! REMEMBER TO ALWAYS STAY YOUTHFUL! ONE MUST NOT WASTE THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH! NEVER! TO DO SO IS A SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN, OKAY?!"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "You'll have to meet the rest of the teachers and the Suna kids yourself, then.

"Alright. It's nice to meet all of -" I'm cut off by a loud screech.

Kakashi sighs. "Gai..."

"KAKASHI! STOP BEING SO COOL IN FRONT OF THE KIDS! WHY ARE YOU THERE WHILST I AM NOT!? EVEN LEE IS ON YOUR SIDE! YOU MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE FOR THE KIDS' HEARTS BUT YOU HAVE YET TO WIN THE WAAAAAR!"

Maitou Gai then proceeds to sulk for the rest of the day, muttering something under his breath.

* * *

**A/N: I love writing Lee and Gai. Especially Lee ^^ They're so cuuuute!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Kaiya."

I spin around at the sound of my name, immediately locking eyes with a very familiar face.

She smiles gently.

My eyes soften.

She walks towards me, taking hold of my wrist. Before I could react, she'd pulled me away from the crowd of socializing vampires, wolves and ninjas. I follow her lead, eyes wide, feet scrambling to keep up. One stride of hers must've been three of mine, or something.

I watch as she smirks knowingly, dragging me off to some place, her hair flowing in the breeze as she took long, confident steps. Seeing her again made me nostalgic. Remembering the times back then. Suddenly it didn't seem that long ago.

She pulls me up the stairs, all the way up. It was as if she knew this place like the back of her hand. We didn't speak at all, just lightly climbing up the countless flights of stairs, reveling in the silence. The memories.

Ah. I sound old.

On the uppermost floor, there was only a glass sliding door, leading to a small balcony. She pushes open the door, and tugs me inside before the door slams shut.

From here, we could see the endless stretch of green and trees, with a faraway waterfall and a few streams crisscrossing. If I squint hard enough, I could make out the faint dots of buildings in the distance, where Naruto, Sakura and I most likely came from.

We lean against the railing, and she sighs.

"Kaiya. How have you been?" She turns to me, smiling brightly.

"Good. You must have done quite a bit of exploring, huh, Kurenai?" I chuckle.

She shrugs. "Good to hang around Anko once in a while."

"Once in a while?" I laugh.

"Once in while." She grimaces.

She clears her throat, and the cheery atmosphere along with it. "So, does Sakura and Naruto know about... That?"

I shake my head, gripping the railing.

"Do you want to let them know?"

I sigh. "Well, they don't really need to. It's not a life or death thing. It's just something that happened a long time ago." I shrug, avoiding Kurenai's eyes.

"But don't you feel guilty?" she squeaks.

I bow my head, letting my fringe cover my eyes. "It's like I'm hiding the identities of their true mothers from them or something. It doesn't feel good."

"You're not, though," she points out, as if hoping I'd feel better.

Silence overwhelms us.

"Kaiya, do you know who you're replacing in Team 7?" Kurenai suddenly blurts out.

"Nope. I don't know much of the people in this generation. Unless you count the Sand Siblings."

"The Sand Siblings?" She furrows her brows.

"Yeah. Remember that mission I was sent to a very long time ago? To Suna? I was supposed to stay at a government-protected place. Turns out those children that lived there, the ones I called 'Riri-chan' and 'Rourou-kun' because I didn't remember their names were Temari-chan and Kankurou-kun. I saw Gaara for the first time today too, because I didn't see him at all during my stay there. Turns out he's good now. So many surprises. Naruto introduced me to some of his friends, too."

"Oh? Did you meet Kiba, Hinata and Shino?" She grins.

"Yup, and Kiba's dog, Akamaru too. Are they your students?" I guess.

She smiles. Suddenly,

"Is Kiba your type?"

"What?" I say dumbly.

"Shino, then?"

"Kurenai, I-"

"Don't tell me it's Hinata!"

"No, Kurenai-"

"Is it one of the students? Choji, Shikamaru, Naruto, Kankurou, Gaara, Lee? Or is it one of the teachers? Kakashi, maybe? Or one of the Cullens or wolves?"

"Kurenai!"

She laughs heartily. "I'm joking! I'm joking!" She stretches, letting out a small yawn. Then she locks eyes with me. "But you know, I'd like to see you attached. At the very least, experience a relationship. Tell me, how old are you now?"

"18 years." I cross my arms, an expectant smile on my lips.

"There you go! 18 and never been in a relationship! That's not healthy. Tell me your ideals and I'll help you find one!" She gestures dramatically.

I sigh. "Kurenai, everyone isn't going to be as active as you were when you were a teenager. I know plenty of people who haven't been in a relationship."

"Name one. Who's the same age or older than you." Ruling out the students. Very smart, Kurenai.

"Gai...?"

"..."

I stifle a laugh. "I could guess. That man was always way too occupied with Lee and Kakashi to do much dating. Good sensei, though," I add, trying to salvage Gai's dignity.

Kurenai snaps her fingers. "Are you likening yourself to Gai?!" She rushes, with a coy smile on her lips.

"What! No! I-I... You know what, Kurenai, let's let things take their course, shall we? Trust me when I say I can take care of myself."

She quietens, gazing at me intensely.

"Really." I nod, arms akimbo.

"Oh, okay." She submits.

"WHOEVER'S UP THERE, WE SMELL YOU! GET DOWN NOW! BEFORE WE TAKE ACTION TO RID YOU FOREVER!" A voice echoes up the stairs.

We laugh.

"That was a nice catching-up. Thanks, Kurenai."

"See you around, then." She jogs ahead of me, not waiting this time.

"See you around." I say to myself, closing the door behind me and sauntering down the steps.

* * *

**A/N: Where you get to know a little more of Kaiya. ^^**

**Okay, not really. This doesn't progress the story, but it's important to know the characters, aye? Especially since she's new, an OC. **

**Look forward to more!**


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